Nilfisk partners with Blue Ocean Robotics

Nilfisk CEO says the partnership is a further step towards meeting customer needs for accurate and reliable cleaning.

Nilfisk and Blue Ocean Robotics have entered a strategic partnership to develop intelligent cleaning machines and robots for both the Danish and global markets.

The partnership with the specialised Danish robot company complements Nilfisk’s existing robotics activities – an area that is expected to comprise of up to 10 per cent of the company’s turnover within the next five to seven years.

According to Hans Henrik Lund, CEO of Nilfisk, the partnership is a further step towards meeting customer needs for accurate and reliable cleaning.

[quote]“We estimate that approximately 70 per cent of the cost of professional cleaning goes to labor,” he said. “At the same time, the cleaning industry is one of the industries with the highest employee turnover. We therefore experience a significant need among our customers to introduce autonomous machines that can solve standardised cleaning tasks so that cleaning operators can be used for other assignments.” [/quote]

Lund emphasised that Nilfisk is already well underway with its technological transformation.

[quote]“We have a clear strategy to develop our product portfolio in partnership with highly-specialised technology companies that are the best in their field. We already have good experiences with this, and we are looking forward to starting this partnership with Blue Ocean Robotics, which complements our other partnerships very well.” [/quote]

Disruptive innovation

Blue Ocean Robotics and Nilfisk will develop selected Nilfisk products in close collaboration with customers from the cleaning industry. The process is a highly proven approach for the Funen-based robot company, which has built its business on so-called ‘disruptive innovation’.

This includes, among other things, a number of integrated technology platforms (TP-X) and a solid partnership model (RoBi-X), where Blue Ocean Robotics – in collaboration with the partner – drives development and technology, while the partnering companies are responsible for sales, service and production.

The three Co-CEOs in Blue Ocean Robotics, Claus Risager, Rune K. Larsen and John Erland Østergaard said:

“There is a great match between the technologies and competencies of Blue Ocean Robotics and the solid market position Nilfisk has. It provides an optimal environment for creating the robots of the future for the cleaning industry, which will undoubtedly gradually change its character over the coming years, a development we are happy to contribute to.

“At the same time, it is gratifying that two Danish companies have joined forces. Co-creation partnerships like these will bode well for the future and will draw attention internationally in both the cleaning industry and the robot industry, where Denmark plays a significant role.”

Chairman of Blue Ocean Robotics, Jørn Tolstrup Rohde added that the strategic partnership with Nilfisk gives Blue Ocean Robotics the impetus for introducing the company’s technology platform, TP-X, in a broader context than previously.

[quote]“There is no doubt that both companies are moving in a very exciting direction, and that this partnership will support that.” [/quote]

www.nilfisk.com

www.blue-ocean-robotics.com

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